Серіал «Розрив» / Apple TV+
The second season of Severance is on its way to completion, and it’s no surprise that the creators are gradually revealing the secrets of Lumon Industries.
This article contains spoilers for episode 7 of season 2 of «Severance», but if you have already watched it — you may need some clarification
The sci-fi series «Severance» tells the story of employees of the Lumon Industries technology corporation who agreed to a surgical procedure that separated their work memories from their home memories and effectively created two personalities in one body. The intro (those at work) have no idea if they have a family in the outside world or other details, and the extras (those on the outside) have no idea what is happening to them at work.
While Mark Scout was recovering from his reintegration (a process that was supposed to unite his memories), the seventh episode of «Severance» focused on another key character, Ms. Casey, a psychologist at Lumon Industries, and the protagonist’s wife, Gemma, whom he thought had died long ago. At the same time, there were flashbacks to the macro data processing department (hereinafter MDR) and the disclosure of what is really behind this seemingly meaningless work.
You may remember that MDR employees sat in front of retro computers day in and day out and diligently put numbers into baskets (an opportunity that Apple TV, by the way, also provided to viewers in the form of a browser game) and did so, as Mark Haley explained in one episode, solely on the basis of their own feelings.
In the end, we were shown that PCs are essentially cameras — and thus each divided worker is monitored by a separate specialist. Interestingly, the personnel transferring us from MDR to another department was filmed live without the use of CGIas the director of the episode later told in an interview. Here it is:
#Severance S2 E7 director Jessica Lee Gagné says no CGI was used for this shot
“It’s all real” pic.twitter.com/Zlw9D6mLcg
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) March 2, 2025
These specialists observe the reactions of MDR employees to the numbers and listen to their conversations; they also track the progress of each intro in working with macro data and report on progress — Mark, for example, has been a bit stuck on the Cold Harbor file (a project we’ve heard about more than once from Lumon Industries executives).
It gets more interesting from here: each of the folders, like the aforementioned Cold Harbor, corresponds to the names of different rooms on the test floor — which Gemma eventually visits and participates in what seems to be not very pleasant experiments (in one, she underwent an unpleasant dental procedure, while in another, a plane crash was simulated). What’s interesting, Gemma has a separate intro for each room, which confirms the possibility of dividing it into three or more people.
We remind you that the second season of «Severance» consists of 10 episodes, and the final one will be released on March 21 on Apple TV+. Meanwhile the third season, according to producer Ben Stiller, is already in the works which is not surprising given that the series has already become the most popular show in the history of streaming.